


midnight cereal

by watergator



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22170961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: kath wakes in the night to find dan in her kitchen
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 17
Kudos: 200





	midnight cereal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ahappyphil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahappyphil/gifts).



Kath wakes with a start.

Her heart is beating fast in her chest like rabbit kicks, thumping against her ribs as she flattens her palm against the material of her nightgown to soothe herself.

She takes a few steady breaths, helping her poor heart return back to its normal beat, a steady _lub_ _lub_ that eases the pain there now.

It’s raining outside and the nightmare she’s just had is already starting to fade away in the corners of her mind. It’s raining, hard enough for it the rattle against the window and for the roof to shake.

She’s sure that the nightmare was the same as he usually is from what she can remember from the hazy memory. She’s in the house asleep when all of a sudden the cliffs outside start to crumble.

They fall away so easily like soft little cake crumbs, falling a million miles down into the cold, dark ocean.

Kath manages to escape, running out in her nightwear, screaming and yelling for everyone to get up, before it’s too late.

But she reaches the front door, stumbles outside into the night, and as she turns around to see who made it out, the house is already falling away from her.

She screams for Nigel. He’s always at the window, palms pressed up against the window, calling out for her with a look and sound of terror etched into every last piece of him.

Some nights Phil and Martyn are there. She tries to wake them as she runs through the house but she’s always outside alone.

Tonight, although the dream is blurry, she remembers Dan being there too.

He’s the only one out of bed, stood in his clothes by the front door, but as she runs past him and screams at him to move, he’s still.

She leaves him behind as he cries and cries and cries, and once again, the house falls apart and disappears into the sea, along with her entire family.

The nightmare feels fuzzy, almost like she’s unsure if it really ever happened in her unconscious state of mind.

Nonetheless she knows it’s not really real.

Nigel is fast asleep beside her, snoring his head off as per usual, and her house is at a far away distance from any dangerous cliffs that may give way at any point in time during a thunderstorm, given that nightmare scenario.

Still, the imagery leaves her feeling shaken. She knows she’ll struggle doing back to sleep unless she makes herself a sneaky, quick cuppa and then at least attempt to get some rest before morning breaks.

She wraps herself up in the dressing gown Cornelia got her for her birthday and shoves her cold feet into the slippers her husband gifted her for winter nights such as these.

She slowly makes her way to the kitchen, careful not to make too much sound only to have the life almost scared out of her when she sees a figure stood alone in the room.

The light comes on and Kath actually almost screams until she realises it’s only Dan, his wild curly hair and his long, hunched over stature gives it away.

Kath places her hand over her heart once again, catching her breath as she lets out a breathy laugh, a relieved sound as she realises that it’s  _ not  _ a serial killer coming to get her for making a cup of tea in the dead of night.

Dan stands there looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

His eyes are blown wide and he has his hand shoved into a cereal box, still as anything as if Kath herself if some mighty T-Rex, and if he doesn’t move then maybe she won’t notice him stood there.

A chuckle passes her lips and Dan seems to physically deflate; his shoulders sag and he chomps loudly on his mouthful of dry cereal, a sigh escapes him.

“You scared me,” he tells her once he’s swallowed his food down with a comically loud gulp.

Kath laughs again as she moves past him to where the kettle is. It’s already full of water from where Phil had made himself a hot chocolate before bed and she flicks the switch waiting for the water to boil.

She turns to face him.

“You’re the one that scared me!” She shakes her head with a smile. “What on God’s Earth are you doing down here eating my cereal at this time of night hm?”

Dan looks down at the box in his hands as if it had suddenly materialised there before looking back at her with a sheepish look.

“Getting back at Phil for all the years he’s eaten all  _ my  _ cereal,” he says in a clever voice and Kath just snorts a laugh. 

“Yes, but you do realise that it’s actually  _ my _ cereal you’re eating, don’t you dear?”

Of course, she’s only teasing, but Dan’s face goes a little pink. She slaps his arm lightly with a laugh.

“Don’t worry. Phil would only eat it anyway,” she winks, and moves past him as she reaches for a mug, and he gracefully side steps out of her way.   
  
“Why are you awake anyway?” He asks curiously. She glances at him and he looks as if he’s questioning if maybe he shouldn’t have asked.   
  
She grabs a tea bag and pops it in her mug.   
  
“Bad dream, my dear.”   
  
Dan is silent for a moment, there's a rustling of cereal and when she looks back at him, he’s holding out the box towards her with a soft grin.   
  
She grins back and plunges her hand in, scooping out a generous amount before tipping her head back to funnel it into her mouth.   
  
She hears Dan give a quiet little laugh.   
  
“Don’t tell,” she winks at him once she’s swallowed it down. Dan winks back as he takes another handful.   
  
“I won’t,” he promises her. “I think I know now though where Phil probably got his bad habits from.”   
  
She’s pouring in her tea when she tuts at him, a grin still curling at her lips.   
  
“Not a bad habit,” she corrects him. “Just another endearing quality.”   
  
Dan makes a high pitched sound of laughter that has her raising her brows at him in surprise.   
  
“That’s exactly something Phil would say you know?”   
  
Kath grabs a spoon from the drawer and begins to stir the water around, watching the tea bag disperse into the hot liquid. She hums.   
  
There’s a moment of silence for a while as Dan crunches on the cereal and Kath stirs her tea.   
  
“I used to have bad dreams as a kid,” he says after sometime, his voice is quiet and low sounding.   
  
Kath looks at him, letting him continue.   
  
He sets down the cereal box and licks at his bottom lip, “More like night terrors, actually,” he says with a grimace.   
  
Kath makes a shocked face. “Oh, I hear they’re not very pleasant, are they?”   
  
Dan swallows thickly. “Well, I wouldn’t really know,” he tells her. “I was always asleep.”   
  
Kath blinks at him before she’s huffing a laugh. “You know what I mean, silly.”   


Dan laughs back. “I do. My parents said they were horrid. Like I was bloody possessed or something.”   
  
Dan’s already walking to the fridge, grabbing the carton of milk before she can even do it herself. She takes it gratefully,   
  
“Thank you, love,” she whispers as she pours in the right amount and picks up her spoon.   
  
“I suppose you grew out of them then, hm?” She asks as the tea starts to swirl around in her mug.   
  
Dan looks up at her. “Huh?”

Kath smiles patiently.    
  
“The night terrors,” she reminds him. “Don’t children usually grow out of them?”   
  
Dan’s lips pull into a thin smile. “I guess so,” he shrugs. “I’ve always had trouble sleeping though, even now.”   
  
Kath hums. “I know, child.”   
  
Dan smiles, eyes crinkling. “It’s a good thing I have someone to stay up with then, isn’t it?”   
  
Kath chuckles as she picks up her tea and brings the mug to her lips.   
  
“I’m not much for company. No sleep does me any good,” she says with a shake of her head before taking a sip. It’s warm and soothing and already starting to make her feel sleepy. 

“Besides, if I’m too tired tomorrow, who will bake you the lemon cake I’m planning on making?” She adds with a wink.   
  
Dan laughs, mindful to keep his voice down. “I think there’ll be anarchy if that were to happen,” Dan smiles. “Especially with Phil.”   
  
Kath feels her chest grow warm. “Especially with Phil.”   
  
Dan smiles back and it feels like a thousand suns. 

“I won’t keep you up, get back to bed. And take that damned cereal box with you next time, god knows the pair of you will only end up eating me out of house before you leave,” she says, patting him on the arm.   
  
Dan huffs. “That’d be a good idea, wouldn’t it? Don’t go putting any ideas into Phil’s head though, he might actually take it to heart.”   
  
Kath smiles; she imagines he would as well.   
  
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she tells him.   
  
“Goodnight Kath,” he whispers.   
  
He’s grown so tall and so big and incredible in the years she’s known this boy, now a man. He’s filled out, he’s bigger, braver, probably a lot stronger too, in every sense.   
  
It makes her heart feel full, to have been able to bare witness to that change.   
  
She holds her tea in one hand and uses the other to squeeze at his hand as he passes her. He stops to look at her.   
  
“Goodnight, Dan. Get some rest, hm?”   
  
He grins, dimple and all. No wonder her boy fell in love so damn easily.   
  
“You too,” he whispers.   
  
Dan pads off back into the darkness where she knows her son is probably waiting for him, maybe rolled over onto his side of the bed where Dan will have to careful shove him back over with a groan.   
  
Kath heads back to her own room where her own husband is asleep in their bed.   
  
She crawls back into bed, enveloped by the warmth of the duvet and sighs.   
  
She smiles to herself as she looks at the window across the room. It’s still raining, but less heavy now. By morning, all will be well.

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday keelin !! i hope your day is full of love and all good things <3


End file.
